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Norco Mustang Makeover champ Obbie Schlom enters 2013 Road To The Horse.

Eighteen-year-old Obbie Schlom of Silverado burst onto the equine scene last month when she finished with the champion and reserve champion Mustangs at the 2012 Extreme Mustang Makeover in Norco (see “Extreme Success,”, June 21 California Horsetrader). Her horsemanship skills and enthusiasm caught the attention of many in the horse world, including Road to the Horse creator, Tootie Bland.

After a decade of watching the most talented clinicians and horse trainers compete at Road to the Horse, Bland recognized Schlom’s potential and offered her the chance to represent Team U.S.A at Road to the Horse next year. The popular competition will take place in Lexington, Ken., at the Kentucky Horse Park March 15-17, 2013.

Schlom will be teamed with fellow Californian Sarah Winters, and the dynamic duo of talented, young horsewomen will attempt to dethrone reigning champions Guy McLean and Dan James of Team Australia.

Schlom is an old cowgirl soul in an 18-year-old body and will be the youngest competitor ever at Road to the Horse. The historic traditions of California horsemen built the core of her training style and method. Since she could walk, Schlom has ridden anything with four legs – horses, mules and bucking bulls. As a home-schooled scholar, she had the opportunity to roam and ride the hills of Silverado.

At 14, Schlom worked race colts at Los Alamitos Race Course. During summers, she started colts for Kennedy Farms and would return to her family’s home ranch to work with problem horses that no one else wanted to ride.

“People brought me the bad ones,” shared Schlom. “Those horses taught me how important it is to be calm and confident. I have a plan for each horse, each day. I accept and appreciate everything the horse gives me.”

When Schlom was 12, she watched the 2007 Extreme Mustang Makeover on television. She told her mom that she was going to enter a Mustang Makeover as soon as she reached the required age of 18. The month she turned 18, she completed her application to the Makeover and picked up not one, but two wild Mustangs for the Norco competition. After just 100 days of training, Schlom competed on two Mustangs and won both the Champion and Reserve placings. The crowd fell in love with this 18-year-old phenomenon and voted her as fan favorite.

Schlom brings a young and fresh approach to the colt-starting arena. She combines the compassion for animals that is engrained in her generation with the grit and determination of the old west. She is no rookie, and brings years of competition experience to the arena. She also brings grit and determination that she has learned from her long-eared teachers, whom she has competed successfully with at the famous Bishop Mule Days. Schlom and her mule will also be traveling north of the border to compete in the Cowboy Up Challenge at the Calgary stampede.

About Road to the Horse
Road to the Horse, the World Championship of Colt-Starting, is a three-day event that matches the world’s best horse clinicians of today against one another as they train unbroken colts to ride in just a few short hours in front of a packed, live audience and television cameras. By combining education, edge-of-your-seat suspense, entertainment and the love of the horse, Road to the Horse has been responsible for solidifying the position of today’s horsemanship heroes and launching the careers of tomorrow’s hottest new stars. In the process, the event itself has become a catalyst for the advancement of natural horsemanship.

MORE ONLINE: See website http://bit.ly/27A_NT_Road

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